Former Romania international Popescu jailed for three years

Former Romania international Gheorghe Popescu was one of eight men sentenced by the Bucharest Court of Appeal for dodgy transfers on Tuesday.

Published

5 March 2014

Popescu was sentenced to a maximum of three years and one month in prison after he was found guilty of money laundering and tax evasion in relation to 12 transfers, which saw players move abroad from Romanian clubs between 1999 and 2005.

The former PSV Eindhoven, Tottenham and Barcelona defender, who made 115 appearances for Romania, was joined by former owners of Dinamo Bucharest, Rapid Bucharest and Otelul Galati - Cristian Borcea, George Copos and Mihai Stoica - in being sentenced to jail.

Borcea received a sentence of six years and four months, Copos got three years and eight months, while Stoica, who now works as general manager of Steaua Bucharest, was handed three years and six months.

The other men to be sentenced were Ioan Becali (six years, four months), Victor Becali (four years, eight months), Gheorghe Netoiu (three years, four months) and Jean Padureanu (two years, four months) with all decisions considered final as they were handed down by the Bucharest Court of Appeal.